Sauk downs Dogs with strong first half

The Sauk Centre Mainstreeters outscored the Dogs 32-16 in the first half on Friday night and defeated Paynesville 65-46 in a West Central Conference North game.

Sauk Centre (4-3 in the WCC North) made eight three-pointers in their victory over the Dogs.

Paynesville countered with five treys of their own - led by senior Mark Andrie who had three threes for nine points - but the Streeters had 25 field goals to only 16 for the Bulldogs.

Senior Mark Andrie made three treys, scoring nine points, in the Dogs' loss at Sauk on Friday night.

Junior Cory Nietfeld scored nine of the Dogs' 16 points in the first half, as Sauk Centre took a 16-point lead at halftime. Only three Dogs scored in the first half: Andrie, Nietfeld, and junior Elliott Wall.

In the second half, the Dogs got better balance in the scoring column with seven players scoring, led by senior Derek Stanger (eight points in the second half) and ninth grader Nathan Nietfeld (seven points in the second half).

The Dogs dropped to 2-5 in the WCC North with the loss, while Sauk Centre improved to 4-3.

The Dogs shot only 36 percent from the floor and less than 50 percent from the free throw line.

"Friday night in Sauk Centre was a rough night," said coach Phil Carlson. "We started off playing tough but did not convert on key free throws once we were in the bonus. This led to some momentum for Sauk, and they capitalized."

"They seemed to hit their shots well and outrebounded us overall," added Carlson. "They were the more aggressive team. We need to come right back with a strong effort versus Maple Lake on Monday."

This week, the Dogs (4-7 overall) hosted Maple Lake on Monday night. They will travel to Albany for a conference game on Thursday.

Next week, the Dogs will host conference-leading New London-Spicer on Tuesday, Jan. 31.